Yesterday’s post on the 1815 got me in a Laphroaig mood, so here’s another Laphroaig review but this time it’s a special post recapping a special Laphroaig tasting that was held by my friend Yori, a certified Laphroaig geek.

Theme of the tasting: Vertical tasting of the official Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength releases. Over the last few years he collected samples and bottles of all Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength variants – from the Green Stripe to Batch 009 that was released in 2017 for a total of eleven variants of 10 Year Old Laphroaig Cask Strength.

So on a sunny and not too cold Friday morning last November, we sat down for a 4.5 hours marathon tasting of Cask Strength Laphroaig. Which one was the best? and which one was the worst? I suggest you take a deep breath before diving into the notes, but if you just want my full ranking, it’s at the bottom after the long list of the tasting notes.

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength batch #007 Jan 2015 56.3%

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength batch #008 Mar 2016 59.2%

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength batch #009 Feb 2017 58.1%

Nose: Peat smoke but with fresh seaweed , restrained at first, cured salted meat, smoke which tends to be semi dry with time and oxidation, chiseled, weak iodine, a touch of menthol, fruitiness, pears, honey and peaches.

Palate: Dry peat smoke, underlying rich honey and fruitiness, pears and peaches bursting to the front when it recedes. Pepper and oak spices, dry again at the end.

Thoughts and ranking: Phew that was an intense session. It wasn’t an easy task to go through all those cask strength whiskies in one long session but it was fun and educational. My top 5 drams were also highly ranked by most of the participants in the tasting, just ranked in a different order. However, there was a consensus on the worst of tasting and that was Batch #003. Here’s my full ranking:

1st place and the winner of the tasting: Batch #002, it’s like the red stripe but it was even but better.
Green Stripe
Batch #001 – A balanced dram between the red tripe and the green stripe
Batch #007
Batch #004 – Very maritime and a good recovery after #003
Red Stripe – Was weaker this time but I remember it fondly.
Batch #006
Batch #009
Batch #008
Batch #005
Batch #003 – By far the worst. Sweet and flat.

Should we try this kind of madness again in a few months time when Batch #010 is released? Time will tell.